Let-off mechanism for looms.



E. R. HOLMES 0"; B.. E. VALENTINE.

LET-OFI' MBCHANISM FOR LOOMS.

ad APPLIUTION FILED HAY 13, 1909. I L @gls Pameme Ear. 29, 1910.

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B.. HOLMES R. E. VALENTINE.

LET-0F? MBCHANISM FOR Looms.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 13, 1909.

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ANDREW E. GRAHAM co. Fume-mn. QAFHEHS. wnsmnmfmA n C E. R, HOLMES @L R.E. VALENTNB LET-OFF MEGHANISM E OR LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 13, 1909.

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ANDREW s. GRAHAM ceA Hmm-umoammsns. wAslmlmorJ, n.4:

STES PATENT ELBRIDGE R. HGLMES AND RALPH E. VALENTINE, OF WORCESTER,MASSACHUSETTS,

ASSIGNORS T CROMFTON 8s KNOWLES LOOM TOR-KS, A CORPORATICN OF MASSA.-

CHUSETTS.

LET-OFF MECHANISll/ FOR LOOlVIS.

esseee.,

Specicaton of Letters Patent.

atented Mar. 29, ifl,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, Emnmen R. HOLMES and RALPH E. VALENTINE, citizensof the United States, residing at ll'lorcester, in the county oflVorcester and State of Massachusetts, have jointly invented certain newand useful lmprovements in Let-Off Mechanism for Looms, of which thefollowing is a specification.

Our invention relates to let-off mechanism for looms, and particularlyto narrow ware or ribbon looms for weaving elastic or rubber fabric, andthe object of our invention is to provide a let-off mechanism for loomsof the class referred to, by means of which the rubber warp is slackenedfor a certain number of picks, as required, to make the non-elasticportion of the fabric, and then stretched for a certain number of picksto make the elastic portion of the fabric.

Our invention consists in certain novel features of construction of ourimprovements as will be hereinafter fully described.

For .narrow ware looms for weaving fabric for Suspenders, etc., whichrequire a non-elastic portion, and an elastic portion, we provide meansconnected with the let-off inecl'ianism, which means are preferably putinto operation by a pattern surface, and are adapted to slacken therubber warps in the non-elastic portion of the fabric, and then tostretch the rubber warps in the elastic portion.

lli/le have shown in the drawings a detached portion of a narrow-wareloom, and let-off mechanism, with our improvements applied thereto,sufficient to enable those skilled in the art to understand theconstruction and operation thereof.

Referring to the drawings t-Figure 1 is a rear Aview of one end of anarrow-ware loom, and our improvements applied thereto, looking .in thedirection of arrow a, Fig. Q. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section,on line 2, 2, Fig. 1, looking in the direction of arrow o, same ligure;some parts which are shown in Fig. 1 are not shown in this figure. Fig.3 is a detached view of operating levers which are not shown in Fig. 2;broken lines show the different positions of the levers. Fig. t showssome of the parts shown in Fig. 2, detached, looking in the direction ofarrow o, same ligure. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the rear of theloom, looking in the direction of arrow d, Fig. 4t, and, Fig. G is aplan View of some of the parts shown in Fig. at, looking in thedirection of arrow c, same figure.

1n the accompanying drawings, 1 is a portion of the loom side or endframe, 2 is the upper girt, and 3 the lower girt, e are brackets orbearings for the warp beams or spools 5, on which, in this instance therubber warps, not shown, are wound. Each of the warp beams or spools 5is carried on a shaft. (3, and provided with a band brake wheel 7, ofthe usual construction. The rubber warps, not shown, are adapted to bedrawn from the warp beams or spools 5 in the direction indicated byarrow no, in Fig. 2.

8 is the bottom shaft of the loom.

All of the above mentioned parts may be of any usual and well knownconstruction.

le will now describe our improvements in let-olf mechanism for therubber warps.

(ln the bottom shaft S is mounted in this instance a bevel gear 9, seeFig. Q., which meshes with and drives a bevel gear 1() fast on a shaft11. The shaft 11 is loosely mounted in a bearing 1Q secured on a stand1Q attached to the loom side 1, and in a bearing 1? secured to the loomside 1. The upper end of the shaft 11 has secured. thereon a bevelpinion 14s, see Fig. Q, which meshes with and continuously drives twobevel gears l5 and 16, see Fig. l, which are loosely mounted on ahorizontally extending shaft 17, The shaft 17 is loosely mounted in abearing 1S on the loom side 1, and in a bearing 19 on a bracket 19secured to 'the upper cross girt- 2. T he shaft 17 is provided at itsinner end with a worm portion 17. A worm threaded sleeve Q0 is looselymounted on the worm portion 1T of the shaft 17, and has an extensionQ0', to which is secured in this instance a stop lever '21, see Figs. 1,4t, and 6, which extends upwardly toward the front of the loom, and hasits upper end '21 offset and extending in an elongated slot QQ in aplate 22 secured to the cross girt 2.

The shaft 17, see Figs. 1, 4t, and 6, has splined thereon a clutchmember' 23, which has an annular groove Q3 therein, into which extendsthe forked end of a clutch lever ist, having its hub 24C fast on avertically extending shaft 25, which shaft is mounted in bearings 25 and9.5 on the upper and lower cross girts 2 and 3, see Fig. 1. The clutchmember 23 is adapted to be inoved into engagement with the teeth ofeither one of the bevel gears l5. and ,lot to cause the shaft l? to berotated in one or the other direction.

rThe bevel gear l has rigidly connected therewith a pinion QG. whichineshes with and continuously driif'es a pinion 2T, loosely inounted onthe horizontally extending shaft QS. The shaft Q8 has a bearing Q8 atone end. on the looin sido. see Fig. l. r there is also a bearing forthe other end of the. shaft Q8 at the opposite end of the looni, notshown. rl`hel other bevel gear lo has rigidly connected thereto a pinion29, which meshes with and continuously drives a pinion also looselyinounted on the .shaft 2S. Flach of the pinions 9T and 30 has a clutchportion QT and. 30 respectively. see Fig. l. which are zrdapted to beengaged by a clutch nieinber Si, which is splined on the shat't 2S. andhas anY annular groove 3l therein to receive the forked end of a clutchlever 32. which has its hub 82. see Fig. secured upon the upright shaftThrough the engagement of the clutch 3l with the clutch portion 2T onthe pinion QT, or with the clutch portion 30f on the pinion llt), thehorizontally extending shaft 25 is rotated in one or the otherdirection.

lzlounted on the horizontally extending shaft 2S are a series of drivingpinions 3B. to inesh with a id drive the gears 334, which arc inountedon the shaft (i. There is a gear for each rubber warp beain 5, and eachgear 34 has a pin 224 fast thereon7 to which s connected one end of aband S5. which es around the band wheel .7 connected with the warp beainor spool 5. and the o ier end of said band is connected to a ly coiledcontraction springl 3o. which secured to the piu 34. see Fig. 2. therotation of the gears I-S-t the )eanis 5 are rotated.

The vertically extending shaft Q5 has fast thereon, near upper end. thehub 23T of an arin or lever 23T, which extends toward thc front of theloom, see Fig. Q, and has its front end slotted at 3T, see Fig. to lo`receive a pin or stud 3S on a hori aontally extending square-shaped rod3 l. `@ne end of the rod BS, at the left in Fig. l. is loosely heldbetween two guide rolls 39; the other end of the rod 33 extends throughthe looni side, see Figs. 4. and 6. and has its upper edge guidinglyheld by a guide oll 40 inounted on a stand 4l on the leoni side, see Tothe end of the rod 38 is secured two plates .58, carrying a stud 3 m, onwhich is inounted a roll 42, which is adapted to travel on the upperedge of a cani-shaped portion 43 on the upturned end of a horizontallyextending lever 43, see Figs. 4, and 5. The lever 43 has its hub 43loosely inounted on the end of the shaft 17. fr helically coiledcontraction spring 44 has t helica one end connected with an extension43 on the lever 43, and its other end connected to a pin 45 on the looniside, see Figs. t and 5. The spring 44 acts to yieldingly hold theupwardly extending end of the lever 43 against the roll 40 on thesquare-shaped rod 3S. To the lever 43 is pivotally attached the upperend of a rod 46. The lower end of said rod 46 is pivotally attached toan arin 4T, which has its hub 47 loosely inounted on a stud 4S7 see Fig.5. Extending out froin the hub 4T is an arin 47, to which is attachedone end of a brake band 49, which passes around a peripherally groovedwheel 50, see Figs. l. and 5, which wheel is secured to the shaft 2S.The other end of the brake band 49 is attached to a second arin -l-T,and to said arni 47 is attached one end of a helically coiledcontraction spring 5l. rl`he other end of said spring is attached to apin on the looni side, not shown. The downward movement of the lever 43causes the brake band 4S) on the brake wheel 50 to be loosened.

rllhe lower end of a rod which rod leads to a pattern inechanisin, not.shown7 is pivotally connected to the end of an arni :3J-3, which has itshub -53 secured on a rocking shaft 54, which is inounted in bearings *3on stands 55 secured to the upper cross girt 2, see Fig. l. Also securedon the shaft 54 is the hub 5o of a lever 5o. rlhe upper enlarged end ofthe lever 5G has the inclined or cani-shaped portion or block 56", whichis adapted to be inoved into the path of and to engage a roll 57 on apin 5S on the square-shaped rod 3S. Then the lever Sti. having' thecani-shaped block 5G. is inoved froin one position to its other position. shown by broken lines in Fig. the roll. 5T travels along thecani-shaped o1' inclined edge of the block 5G and inoves the rod 38longitudinally in one or the other direetion.

On the square-shaped rod 23S are adjustably secured collars 5S) and 60,by set screws 5o and 30. respectively. The collars 59 and o() carry apin 59 and GO, respectively7 which are adapted to extend into the pathof and be engaged by the offset end 2l on the arni Ql secured to theworin sleeve 20, when said sleeve inoved in one direction or the other`by the rotation of the worin portion 1'4"/ on the shaft 1T.

Froni the above description in connection with the drawings, theoperation of our iniproveinents will be readily understood by thoseskilled in the art. Then the looin is in operation, the rubber warps7not shown, are drawn frein the warp beains or spools 5, in the directionindicated by arrow fc, Fig. 2, under the tension caused by the brakebands 35 passing around the brake wheel 7 attached to the gears 34. Thegears 34 are in inesh with the pinions 83 on the shaft Q8,

and said gears, remaining stationary, are held by the friction on the.brake Wheel 50 on the shaft 28. rlhe pattern mechanism, not shown,indicates the slaclrening of the rubber uarps, to weave the non-elasticportion of the fabric, and through the connector rod 52, the arm 53 ismoved, in this instance from the position shown by full lines to theposition shoivn by broken lines in llig. 3. lhe lever 56 with thelain-shapcd portion 5G thereon, engages the roll 57 on the squareshapedrod 8S, to cause said rod to move longitudinally, and in this instancetoward the l in Figs. land (3, and to the right in Fig. l. rlhe roll a2,which is carried on the plates 3S on the end of the squareshaped rod 3S,travels along' the inclined edge on the upturned end of the lever 43,until said roll Ll2 enters the notch 431 in said end. The lever ispressed downwardly, and through the rod Litt?, and arms it?, 4T,releases the friction on the brake band i9 on the brake Wheel 50 securedon the shaft 28to allow the tur ling of said shaft. Through the pin orstud 3S on the squareshaped rod 3S, the end of the lever is moved. tothe left in lfig. G, and the vertically extending shaft Q5 is rocked,and through the movement of th the clutch member 3l is moved intoengageH nient with the clutch portion 27 on the gear 2T, see l, torotate the shaft 2S and the pinions 33 thereon, which are in mesh withthe gears 3l, causing said gears 34 to revolve in the direction ofarroiv m, Fig. 2. and through the band 85 on the wheel 7, to rotate thespools or beams 5, and let ott the rubber vxvafrps, or slaclen thewarps, for Weaving the non-elastic portion of the fabric. At the sametime, through the rotation of the vertically extending shaft Q5, thebevel gear 1G Will revolve the shaft l? and the worm 1T thereon, in adirection to cause the i arm 2l to move toward the left in TEig. l,until the end 2l engages the pin 60 on the rod 38, to move said rod backagain to the left. in Fig. l, and bring the roll 4t2 into the centralpart of the depression in the upturned end of the lever 43, to allow thespring le to act to return said lever to its raised position, and applythe band et@ on the brake wheel on the shaft 2S, to stop the rotation ofsaid shaft. rllhrough the movement of the square-shaped rod 38, thelever 37 is moved to roclr the vertically exclutcli lever thereon, l.

tending shaft 25, and to move the clutch members i3 and 31 back intotheir inoperative position, and stop the operation of the slackeningmechanism. To stretch or tighten up the rubber i Tarps again for Weavingthe elastic portion of the fabric, the next indication of the patternsurface, not shown, through the connector rod 52 and intermediateconnections, ivill move the lever 5G, from the position shown by brokenlines to the position shown by full lines in Fig. 8, the square-shapedrod 3S is moved to its opposite position, and to the right in Fig. 4C,and the friction on the brake wheel 50 is again released, through theroll on the rod 38 entering into the notch 43D in the lever 43. Theclutch members 23 and 3l are moved in the opposite direction to thatabove dcscribed, to cause the gears 233 to be rotated in the oppositedirection, and turn the gears Slalso in the opposite direction, andthrough the band 35 on the Wheel 7 to retard, or rotate in an oppositedirection the Warp beams or spools 5, to stretch or tighten up therubber ivarps, until the sliding arm 2l on the worin portion 17 has beenmoved to its right position, as shown in Fig. l, to engage the pin 59,and move the rod 38 to the right, to move the clutch members and stopthe operation of the let-blt mechanism.

lt will be understood that the details of construction of ourimprovements .may be varied if desired.

Having thus described our invention, what We claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is l. ln a let-oil mechanism for looms, a ivarpbeam or spool having a friction mechanism, and means, under the controlof pattern mechanism, for automatically rotating said Warp beam or spoolin either direction, to tighten, or slacken the Warp.

Q. ln a let-off mechanism for looms, a ivarp beam or spool havingfriction mechanism, and positive means, under the control of patternmechanism, said means including gearing and clutch mechanism, forautomatically rotating the Warp beam or spool .in either direct-ion totighten, or sla-cken the Warp.

ELBRIDGE R. HOLMES. RALPH E. VALENTINE. Witnesses JOHN C. DEWEY, MINNAHAAs.

